2 Now there
was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and
Aaron. 3 And the people
contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our
brethren died before the LORD! 4
Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we
and our animals should die here? 5
And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil
place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is
there any water to drink." 6
So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the
tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD
appeared to them.

7 Then the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8
"Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation
together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water;
thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the
congregation and their animals." 9
So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the
congregation together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you
rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and
struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the
congregation and their animals drank.

12 Then the
LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given
them." 13 This was the
water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and
He was hallowed among them.NKJV

Facts Revealed:

YMeribah means contention or strife.

²The first problem with water was at the bitter
waters of Marah.[Exodus 15:22-27]

²Two locations of contention and strife over the
water supply: one was at Rephidim near Mount Sinai
(Horeb) which was called Massah and Meribah.[Exodus 17:1-7]

²The other in Kadesh near the border of the
Promised Land, where they refused to enter because of the report of the ten
spies who gave an unfavorable report which cost them 40 years wandering in the
wilderness, and where Miriam died.[Numbers 20:1-13]

YTheir complaint had a familiar refrain,
indicating a normal human lack of faith in God and lack of hope for the future.

²They know that they will spend 40 years in the
wilderness until all that generation has died according to the command of
God.[Numbers 14:26-35]

²They wish they had died with their brethren
before Yehowah:This is a reference to
those who had died as a result of the rebellion of Korah [Numbers 16:1-35] and the rebellion
of the people of Israel.[Numbers
16:41-50]

²Sudden death is preferable to the miseries if a
long drawn out death of wasting away in the wilderness for 40 years.

²They know now that they will never see the
Promised Land because that entire generation will die in the wilderness.

YMoses and Aaron went from the congregation to
the door of the Tabernacle and fell on their faces.

YThe Glory of Yehowah appeared to them as God
allows the people to witness His presence.

YGod commanded Moses to take the rod and Aaron,
to gather the congregation before the rock, to speak to the rock and water will be provided for the people.

²The Rock was God’s provision for the people in
Christ Jesus, Who was at that time God the Word, the rock that followed
them.[1 Corinthians 10:4, John 1:1-5]

²Striking the rock at Rephidim represented the
abuse Jesus bore for the sins of the world, as He provided the sacrifice that
covers sin for all time, He only needed to suffer and die once for all time.

²After that we need only to speak to Christ the
Rock and God hears our prayers and supplies our needs.We dare not crucify Christ again by our
falling away after we have known the truth.[Hebrews 6:1-6]

YBy disobeying God and striking the rock along
with his remarks of anger against the people, Moses failed a great opportunity
to glorify God, by simply speaking to the rock and it would have produced water
in abundance.

YInstead of Hallowing God before the people,
Moses said; “Hear now, you rebels!Must
we bring water for you out of this rock?”Thereby he did not give God the credit for the water supply.

YGod did provide water from the rock for the
people, but He held Moses and Aaron accountable for their act.

YThis act of anger and failure to hallow God in
the sight of the Children of Israel cost Moses and Aaron the right to enter the
Promised Land.

YThe place was called to the waters of Meribah at
Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin because there they contended with God through
Moses and Aaron.[Numbers 20:13, 27:12-14, Deuteronomy
32:48-52]